The wedding day timeline surprises were being worked on by myself and my father-in-law.

I have heard it said, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”  Every life has a moment that takes our breaths away.  We all experience something that makes time stop, for just an instant, and we will never be the same after we experience the moment. It is a milestone moment in our lives.

For most people, their wedding day is one of those moments.  Another might be the birth of each of their children.  Today, I want to share one of the moments that changed my life.

The Wedding Day Plans

Your wedding day timeline is important to follow as close as possible, to keep stress levels down. My wife and her family had spent many months preparing for our wedding.  I had done my part in preparing for the honeymoon.  I had prepared mentally and done the things she had asked me to.

All the preparations that could be made had been.  The day had come and we were in the final minutes.

There were butterflies in my stomach as the ceremony began.  In traditional style, I did not see my wife the day of the wedding.  I had spent the morning preparing our home for our first night together.  My sister and her two children had spent the night with me the night before.  I was very close to my niece, and she wanted to help me prepare the house.  Most of it had already been cleaned, but there was a little bit of “straightening up” that needed to happen because of the night before.  Then we left to go to our local florist.  My niece came with me.  We purchased 6 dozen roses, of varying colors.

After purchasing the flowers, we returned to my home.  I put 2 dozen of the roses in a vase and placed it on the kitchen table.  The remaining 4 dozen roses became my project with my niece.  We tore the petals off of the flowers and began spreading them around the house.  We put them on my bed.  We put them in my bathtub, and in the shower.  We spread them on the floor in the bedroom, and kitchen.  They were everywhere.  It was romantic.  I wanted my new wife to have something extra special when she came into my home for the first time as my wife.

Behind the Scenes Fun at the Wedding

At that point, we left for the church.  I had finished dressing and all of my final preparations.  It was now about 15 minutes before our ceremony.  I could hear the musicians playing for our guests.  I had done everything I could do.  My soon-to-be-father-in-law came up to me, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and said to me, “Now, son, right now, you have a choice.  In a few minutes, after she walks down that isle, if you both say, ‘I do,’ don’t bring her back to my house!”  He paused for a few moments to let that whole thing sink in, then proceeded to say, “At that point, she is all yours!”

I laughed.  I think he could see that the tension was starting to mount and that I needed a comical moment to relieve my stress.  As a side note, the rest of the afternoon, after the ceremony, and at the reception, every time he would walk past me, he would just smile and say softly, “All yours!”  Each time he did it, it got funnier.

“She’s All Yours”

A few minutes later, I was standing at the front of the chapel and watching as my beautiful bride was being escorted by her father down the isle.  She was a radiant beauty!  I don’t think I had ever seen her quite so lovely.  The walk down the isle seemed to take an eternity.  I became more excited with each step they took.  I looked into my father-in-laws eyes and I could see a father who understood.  I could see the deep thoughts and feelings running through his heart and mind.  He was proud of his daughter.  He wasn’t sure that he wanted to let her go, but knew that she was in love with me.  While no father ever is “ready to give up his daughter,” he knew that this was her decision.

The Milestone Moment that gripped me with love.

They finally arrived at the front of the church where I was, and I heard my pastor say, “Who gives this woman away?”  I heard my brides father say, “Her mother and I.”  Then it happened.  The moment that changed my life happened.  A moment frozen in time.  It was like a time capsule moment. As I reached for my brides hand, my father-in-law reached out his hand and took mine.  I didn’t realize what was happening, so I pulled away a little.  He intentionally grabbed my hand, flipped it over, and placed it in my brides hand.  I was stunned.  It wasn’t that he simply “approved of this wedding.”  He was telling me that he genuinely wanted this to happen.  It wasn’t just that he “allowed it” but that he actually was blessing it.  He wanted her and I to be married.

I had never experienced such a powerful moment in such a simple gesture.  It was a moment that I think about even today.  It was a moment that I will never forget.

It took my breath away and I am a better man because of that one simple moment.

What milestone moments have made a great impact on your life? Comment below. We would love to hear your story too.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Mark

The post Wedding Day Timeline Surprises appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

As much as we try to plan ahead, wedding disasters can and will happen. The invitations were not the only problem with our wedding.  So much changed in the 72 hours before our wedding, you could literally say that it was a completely different wedding than we planned!

The week before the wedding, I came down with a case of Bronchitis and a severe sinus infection.  One of my three groomsmen vanished off the plant, and wasn’t found until three weeks after the wedding!  (He claimed it was a money issue, but I know it was something else – Still don’t know!)  A second of my groomsmen had a grandparent pass away, and his parents scheduled the funeral at the same time as our wedding!

One of our bridesmaids woke up the morning of the wedding with a child that had a 104 F fever and needed to run to the hospital. So we had to find someone else quickly to replace her. My fiance, at the time, asked her sister in law to jump in and help. Graciously she accepted. However, the dress needed to be quickly hemmed for her. Luckily, my birth other is a seamstress and helped hem her dress. God works in mysterious ways sometimes, yet always provides.

When our tuxedo’s arrived, they were completely wrong.  We had 3 Hunter green vests and 1 Navy Blue vest.  We had 3 long ties and 1 bow tie.  The store agreed to deliver the correct tie and vest, but when they arrived, the vest had no buttons!  They returned a second time, with buttons, and sewed them on for us!  Needless to say, I was glad that we arrived in enough time to have this all taken care of. This is why it is important to plan ahead for your wedding. However, life happens sometimes. People make mistakes. However no matter how much you plan for special events, sometimes plans change.

Out photographer, who was also supposed to provide us with a video of our wedding “forgot” to bring the video camera!

While lighting the unity candle, my mother had difficulty working the lighter to light her side.  What can I say about that?  My mother’s lighter was “childproof!”  I’m not sure if that means she is just one of those people who cannot operate the childproof caps, or if she is just a child . . . But either way, it is funny to me!  Anyway, after giving up on her lighter, she reached for my soon-to-be mother-in-law’s lighter and managed to dump our entire goblet of grape juice (for “Our First Communion as husband-and-wife together”) down the front of my mother-in-law’s dress.

Now as horrible as that sounds, it turned out to be ok because the dress “perfectly color matched” the grape juice and, other than a wet spot, was completely un-noticeable!  (Although, our photographer managed to capture the horrified look on my mothers face perfectly!)  This also made for an interesting moment for me later as I was to “server” the communion to my wife with, what I found to be, an empty cup of juice.  Many things ran through my mind, but we just “rolled with it” and made it work.

Finally, to top everything else off, my fiancé managed to leave my wedding ring in her bag in the brides dressing room.  A quick-thinking-maid-of-honor pulled off a pearl ring she was wearing, and handed it to my fiancé.  (Marcie wouldn’t let anyone else “hold” the ring for fear they would “loose it!”  How ironic is that?!?!?)  So, we complete the ceremony with a tiny set of pearls on my pinky finger instead of my white gold wedding band that we had picked out.

Without all these memories of wedding disasters, we wouldn’t have anything funny to save in our own decorative Wedding Time Capsule. So years later, now I am glad it all worked out and we made lemonade out of our lemons for the wedding day.

The afternoon of our wedding, they were predicting “A light dusting of snow.”  It snowed 3 inches and made it difficult for my family to return home!

Many people would worry about what all this “says for the marriage,” but I can tell you that we are going strong!  A few months later, the quick-thinking-maid-of-honor got married as well.  Marcie and I were both part of that wedding as well.  She made a comment to me that “her wedding was better planned out, and that is why she didn’t have substitutions” in hers.  I simply laughed.  Yes, she had planned every last detail, but so had we!  Many of our issues were well beyond our control.  I mean, really, what was I supposed to do?  Stay away from people for 3 weeks so I don’t get sick?  Tell my Best Man that he cannot go to his Grandpas funeral?  Tell our Bridesmaid that she must come to the wedding and leave her sick child at home or just drop her off at the hospital?

The reality is, no matter how well you plan a wedding, or any event, there will be problems!  The key to it is to work the issues and “roll with it.”  This is your day!  It is a day that you both will remember for the rest of your lives!  Don’t let a few problems stress you out and ruin your day!  In the grand scheme of things, I suppose I am just glad that we didn’t burn down our church in the process of getting married!

In the end, we got married.  We found the ring I was supposed to get, and before we went to the reception.  Our photos came out great.  The church is still standing.  The dress was cleaned, and you still can’t see a stain.  We are still married. Going on 11 years now.  And, above all, I have a great photo that I can black-mail my mother with when she starts talking about breaking out the “naked baby photos!”  We also have some great stories to tell, which is really helpful when you wife asks you to write a blog for her! 

For helpful tips on how to avoid wedding day disasters, plan ahead with these tips here.

Remember:  This is your day!  Whether you are a man or a women – You will remember it!  So, make it what YOU want it to be!

What all problems happened at your wedding? If you have the courage, comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Mark

The post Plan Ahead – Wedding Disasters appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Who did we go to talk to when we were teenager? Our peers or close friends. Those we know, like, and trust are those who can be counted on for honest answers. As we get older, it is similar, when it comes to purchasing products or using services.

I recently debated about who should cut my hair. It is a very difficult decision for a girl, especially if you have experienced a bad haircut from someone you do not even know. That is when I advise to ask your friends who they use, or look around at hair when you are at a social event, to determine what you like then ask that person where he or she gets their hair cut. I know this is a long blog, but you can skim through the testimonies if you want.

Testimonies are the Lifeblood of Businesses

A time capsule is a very precious gift or keepsake that basically sums up your life or milestone moments, to help you remember what you did or experienced in the past. It is priceless. For such special heirloom gift ideas, we want you to turn to your friends or peers and find out what he or she is saying about this unique treasure. Read some of the following testimonies from from parents, grandparents, friends, and family just like you who have proudly purchased a baby or wedding time capsule. These are just a few comments we hear on the phone, when our customers call. We welcome your comments back. Share some of your own testimonies in the comments. We love to hear from our customers.

What our Raving Fans Have to Say – These are testimonials from people just like you and I.

We have heard comments like:

– Best baby shower gift ever
– I cannot thank you enough for helping me preserve my memories in such a cute way.
– I will be telling my friends and family about these gifts.
– This is ideal for someone who does not have time to scrapbook.

A Special Thanks

If you too would like to be one of our fans of the time capsules, order one at http://www.timecapsule.com, or become a fan of our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TheOriginalTimeCapsule. We cannot wait so share photos with you there and comment on some of your favorite stories you may share with us. To get ideas of how to use the time capsules, check out our other blogs, or view the testimonial videos under the “Testimonies” tab on our website.

My husband Mark and I would like to say a special big Thank you to all of our fans of the Baby and Wedding Time Capsules. We hope this unique gift has been such a blessing and everlasting precious treasure for you and your future family members for generations to come.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

www.timecapsule.com

The post Our Testimonials – From people just like you. appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Your vows are some of the most important words you will ever say to your husband or wife. There are many different and unique ways to save and display your vows.

Filled with so much emotion during your wedding day, sometimes your vows can also be the hardest words to say. Vows are words of commitment and love.

How to Display your Vows:

1. Type them over one of your favorite photos, and then frame it. What a great reminder daily, in your home, of your undying love for each other.



2. Display those memorable words on your Wedding Cake. Make sure you take a picture of this beautiful art before you cut into it and endulge. Check out this awesome cake from http://www.sweetandsaucyshop.com/wedding-cakes-gallery/



3. Write your vows out on your wedding day aisle runner, then use it as a great backdrop for a wedding photo. Watch the video of how to make this vow backdrop at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_8pWyyXDA0



4. Embroider your vows, and then frame your crafty artwork of love forever. Making this will give you plenty of time to think about the words you say at your wedding and what they truly mean.



5. Keep them in a decorative Wedding Time Capsule, to open years later at a special anniversary to read again. Relive history and the day of your wedding by renewing your vows on that anniversary. Take the other items out of your wedding time capsule and set up your same wedding day display all over again to reminisce about your special day of love. Fill out the special “Message to the Future” letters included to each other to read on that anniversary date of celebration. You can get your Wedding Time Capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com/product/weddingtimecapsule/



More Ideas of how to Display your Vows:

Check out this other helpful list of ideas to display your vows at http://traditionsweddingblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/preserve-your-wedding-vows/

Whatever your way of display, make it special today. Get started on your Vow display project with these creative ideas. Comment below other ideas you can think of to help others display their love.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

The post Creative Ways to Save & Display your Vows appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

]]>